Junior Juan Mendez had 20 points in last year's game vs. Canisius.

NIAGARA UN., N.Y. -- The Niagara University men’s basketball team (2-0) will christen its 15th season of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play when it travels to downtown Buffalo Wednesday to play cross-town rival Canisius (2-2) at 7 p.m. in HSBC Arena.

   The Purple Eagles are off to one of their best starts in the Niagara annals, beginning the season at 2-0. Their most recent victory was over Bucknell, 90-71, Nov. 29 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. For the second-straight week, Niagara received a vote in the Associated Press poll.

   Canisius enters Wednesday’s game with four contests under its belt already. The Golden Griffins went 1-2 at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska, last week. Canisius lost to Liberty, 65-48, beat Pacific, 62-59, and lost to host Alaska Anchorage, 72-67. 

   The game, which will not be televised, tips at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on WJJL (1440 AM).

 Setting the Scene

   -   Wednesday’s game is the MAAC opener for both teams.

   -   Both teams will be sporting retro uniforms in celebration of Canisius’ 100 years of basketball. Niagara will wear its normal away purple shorts but will don a tank-top style purple jersey with smaller lettering and numbering in all white. The jerseys are replicas of the 1964-65 jerseys. The Purple Eagles jerseys will be sold following the game.

   -   Niagara makes it first appearance in HSBC Arena this year. The last time the Purple Eagles played in the Arena was Feb. 18, 2001, when they beat Loyola in overtime, 69-67.

   -   It will be the 156th meeting between the two schools.

   -   Niagara looks to start the season 3-0. The last team to accomplish the mark was the 1999-2000 Purple Eagles when they beat Buffalo (80-76), Albany (74-66) and Canisius (74-64).

 A Quick Glance at Niagara

-  Niagara is off to its best start in four years.

-  Head coach Joe Mihalich started junior Alvin Cruz at point, junior David Brooks and senior Tremmell Darden at the wings and junior Juan Mendez and senior James Reaves at forward in the Purple Eagles 90-71 win over Bucknell.

-  Niagara’s starting lineup is 2-0 and accounted for most of the stats for the Purple Eagles. All five starters scored in double figures for a second-straight game and a pair had seven or more rebounds in the contest.

-  The Purple Eagles are shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the three-point arc and 74.6 percent from the free-throw line.

-  Junior David Brooks leads the team in scoring (20.0), three-pointers (7) and three-point field goal percentage (53.8).

-  Darden, Reaves, Mendez and Cruz are also averaging double digits in points.

-  Cruz is Niagara’s leading playmaker, dishing out 6.0 assists per game. Reaves is averaging a team-best 9.5 rebounds an outing and shooting a team-best 68.8 percent from the field.

-  Niagara’s bench contributed 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals vs. Bucknell.

 A Glance at Canisius

- Canisius won its season opener with a 60-58 victory over Western New York rival Buffalo Nov. 21 but has gone 1-2 since.

- The Golden Griffins lost 65-48 to Liberty in the first round of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Alaska. They rebounded with a 62-59 victory over Pacific, but then lost to Division II Alaska Anchorage, 72-67.

- The Griffs are shooting 41.2 percent from the field, 27.0 percent from three-point range and 67.4 percent from the free-throw line. They are also averaging 59.2 points per game and giving up 63.5 an outing.

- Canisius has one player averaging double-figures in scoring. Sophomore guard Kevin Downey is averaging 10.3 points per game and grabbing 3.5 rebounds an outing.

- The Golden Griffins have five players averaging seven or more points, seven of the 11 players to play this season have six or more points and nine of 11 are averaging 15 or more minutes per game.

 Niagara vs. Canisius:

Series History and Factoids

- The game will be the 156th meeting between the schools with Niagara holding an 83-72 lead in the series.

- Niagara has played Canisius more than any other college basketball team. The two started the series in the 1905-06 campaign, Niagara’s first varsity season.

- Niagara lost the first game in the series, 26-25, in 1905-06, and has won four of the last five meetings.

-  Last year the team split the two-game series. The Golden Griffins won the first contest, 89-69, at the Gallagher Center and Niagara returned the favor, beating Canisius, 71-68, at the Koessler Center.

- Head coach Joe Mihalich is 6-5 all-time against Canisius.